Saints sign Jason Smith, OT

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Originally Posted by Halo
It doesn't hurt to have depth and competition at that position.
Plus I think I read he can play both right and left, so helps there too
Hey, who would have thought DLP would be doing ...

This move puts the FO in a much better place for draft day. Now every other GM/drafting committee knows that we have addressed every position of need through FA and we now have the luxury of being able to draft more along the lines of BPA. When the other GMs know this they also know that they can't count on us to skip any player who may be high on our board, as well as theirs. Which, IMO, makes us ideal candidates for a trade down with several other teams who may be fearful that we could just snatch that player that they covet. And hey, if we end up with Tavon Austin, or we really gonna complain?

Smith, 6-5, 308, was originally chosen by the St. Louis Rams as the second overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Baylor. The Dallas, Texas native has appeared in 45 career games with 26 starts at both left and right tackle. Prior to being acquired by the Jets at the conclusion of training camp in 2012, with Smith playing tackle for his first three seasons in St. Louis, then-Rams running back Steven Jackson exceeded 1,100 yards each season between 2009-11. After appearing in eight games with five starts as a rookie, Smith opened 15 games at right tackle in 2010, as Jackson rushed for 1,241 yards and Sam Bradford became the second rookie quarterback to throw for more than 3,500 yards. Smith served as a blocking tight end and backup tackle in New York.

At Baylor, Smith transitioned from tight end to tackle as a sophomore and started 39 of 42 contests during his career (24 at left tackle, seven at right tackle, and eight at tight end). As a senior, he earned first-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association and was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 conference selection as his blocking efforts helped Baylor rank 21st in the nation and third in the conference in rushing, averaging 197.75 yards per game, while surrendering only 3.5 sacks. Smith graduated in 2008 with a bachelor of science degree in education and attended graduate school during his final season.WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports - Saints Sign OT Jason Smith

Wait a minute; "The Dallas, Texas native has appeared in 45 career games with 26 starts at both left and right tackle. Prior to being acquired by the Jets at the conclusion of training camp in 2012, with Smith playing tackle for his first three seasons in St. Louis, then-Rams running back Steven Jackson exceeded 1,100 yards each season between 2009-11. After appearing in eight games with five starts as a rookie, Smith opened 15 games at right tackle in 2010, as Jackson rushed for 1,241 yards and Sam Bradford became the second rookie quarterback to throw for more than 3,500 yards." It looks like he had a pretty damn good start to me. Is it his fault he didn't get the starting position as OT at Newyork which has been suspect for the past I dont know 20 years? I believe this is a great aquisition and if the Saints can get the kind of production out of him he had in St. Louis plus a blocking tight end this could be the steal of the year. Welcome aboard Jason Smith!!!

Smith has suffered a total of three concussions since being drafted by the Rams with the second overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, two of them serious enough to end his season. It's far to wonder if his career is in jeopardy. In fact, I don't wonder if the injuries, particularly the concussion, he suffered as a rookie did not adversely impact his development as a player.

In five starts, Smith showed potential, but also displayed the inconsistency expected of a rookie. He never seemed able to shake that inconsistency enough to be the kind of lockdown offensive tackle teams expect of a second overall pick.